Girl reports sexual battery try in Osprey

Tuesday

Dec 3, 2013 at 5:45 AM

Staff report

A girl walking home from her school bus stop Monday in Osprey was accosted by an unknown man who tried to force her to have sex, authorities reported.

The girl, whose age was not given, broke away from the man after punching and scratching him, then ran off, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. There were no injuries reported stemming from the alleged attack.

The incident occurred around 3 p.m., near the intersection of Oak Street and Washington Avenue, a sheriff's office press release noted. The girl told authorities she was walking home when the man grabbed her, pulled her into a wooded ditch and tried to sexually batter her.

The suspect was described as standing roughly 5-foot-4 and weighing 180 pounds, with gray hair and a balding hairline. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt and plaid boxer shorts, and driving an older, solid-red pickup truck with a dent near the passenger window southbound on Washington Avenue.

Deputies who searched the area were unable to locate the suspect, but catalogued other reports of suspicious vehicles in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 861-4260 or Crime Stoppers at 366-TIPS.